THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 263 



was very narrow, about two and a half feet across, so 

 only old Suleiman, thin and wizened, could get down 

 to dig. It must have been a most uncomfortable task, 

 for the water lay at a depth of 15 feet, but before he 

 slept that night he had felt damp sand beneath his 

 fingers. Next morning, January 29, the work was com- 

 pleted and our 14 girbas filled and ranged in two nice, 

 fat rows ready for loading, but we could not start that 

 day for a very bad sandstorm raged till 4 p.m. We could 

 not light a fire or even go out to collect hattab for our 

 journey. The camels moaned as they huddled in a 

 miserable circle and we crouched under blankets and 

 ate sand mixed with dates and stale bread. Hassanein 

 devoted much labour to mending his primrose and scarlet 

 boots with brass wire and was bitterlj^ disappointed be» 

 cause he could not cut the latter with his saw! 



In the evening the wind abated a little, but it was 

 a gloomy sunset. The sun was a livid disk in a pale 

 green sky seen through a drab blur of sand above grey 

 desert. We sealed up our three precious fanatis with 

 seccotine round the stoppers so that no one should be 

 tempted to use them till the last possible moment. Then 

 we re-covered the well with the old matting and skins we 

 had found under the miniature dome which covered it. 

 In four years the sand had filtered through them as if 

 they were not there, but should any traveller be rash 

 enough to follow shortly in our footsteps, our precaution 

 might save him a repetition of old Suleiman's task. 



On January 30 we began the long trek, leaving the 

 well at 7 A.M. after a most careful adjustment of the 

 loads. It was cold with a faint north wind which 

 strengthened as we mounted the stony gherd north-east 

 of the well. As we turned for a last look at the lonely 

 clump of palms, a minute spot of green in a boundless 

 stretch of undulating sand, a muffled voice came viciously 



